Donating

You know how every time you see your friend, she looks adorable and you feel like you’ve been wearing the same clothes since the early 90’s? And then, when a friend see you, they comment on how cute your sweater is? It’s the never ending clothing battle we face, right? We shrink and grow as we have babies, styles changes, our hips widen, our feet flatten, we get sick of the shirt we wear five days a week. In a dream world we could just go overhaul our closet but it’s obviously not very budget friendly. The solution is a clothing swap!

What is a Clothing Swap?

Basically, you invite all your friends over and you each bring the clothing and accessories you no longer wear for a big huge trade. Think a clothing garage sale, but everything is free and you drink wine and have yummy snacks. And you get to catch up with your friends and get their fashion advice. Make sure you invite your one really honest friend, the one who tells you when something actually makes you look fat.

Last year, a friend invited me to a clothing swap at her house. I walked in, armed with all my families clothing items we didn’t wear regularly, ready to find a bunch of old clothes I wasn’t super excited about. Then, I saw the pile of shoes and the loveliest pair of purple corduroy Toms (in my size!!) and I was sold on this recycling clothes concept. This is a great way to get new items that fit and are in style without spending a cent at the mall. I ended up with so many pairs of shoes in my size that looked brand new, it was amazing.

The Details

Pick your Invitees – Make sure you invite your most fashionable friends! And it will help if you have people in all sizes and shapes as well.

Set a Date, Time & Location – It requires a decent amount of space depending on the number of people invited so make sure you have room to spread out the items and not have people stepping all over each other.

Determine What Types of Clothing & Items To Bring – You could limit it to just women’s clothes & shoes or include kid’s clothes, men’s clothes, household goods & decor, toys, accessories, etc.

Set The Rules – Do you draw numbers to see who gets to pick first? Or, have a starting line and when the buzzer rings, everybody just runs to the items they like and starts grabbing? Do people get to preview the goods or do they have to wait until start time?

Organize Your Space – I’d recommend having items separated by type (ex. shirts, pants, kid clothes, accessories, shoes) or it could get pretty overwhelming trying to find items in your size. You could do this in separate rooms or just use tables.

Ready, Set, Go! – This is the fun part of course, searching through all the items. You will be amazed at the good stuff people will bring.

Find a Home for the Leftovers – You will end up with a lot of extras, how much depends on if you limit people in what they bring. Have a plan for where it will go, we recommend donating it or selling it to your fave consignment shop and donating the money.

Tips for Success

You might want to limit the amount of stuff people bring. I went to a swap once where the host was literally left with 20 full garbage of clothes to donate. It was a huge job to get it out of the house.

Have guests bring extra bags to take the items they want home. I actually brought my laundry basket once, it was easy to transport all my goods home and the breakable household goods I found made it in one piece.

Remind people to just bring items in good quality & that are fairly current. Not that the patterned parachute pants you wore in high school aren’t awesome and all, but you know what I mean.

Have people bring a snack, dessert or drink to share. You will be so busy clearing the clutter in your house to make room for wild women knocking each over trying to get to a pair of heels, you might not have time to bake.

Have mirrors accessible so people can see what looks good if they want to try it on. A few standup mirrors would be awesome if you can find them.

Include the charity you are donating to on your invite. People love giving their items to a good cause, it will increase your attendance.

We’d love to hear if you have tips for hosting a clothing swap or end up having one after reading this post. I’m planning one for next month. I hope I find another pair of Toms in my size! Because let’s be honest here friends, all I really wear is Toms & yoga pants.

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Welcome to This Beautiful Frugal Life!

Hi! I'm Melody from Tri-Cities, WA, the mother of two young boys and passionate about getting fit, eating healthy and saving money. I am dedicated to helping you live a fabulous life for less and hope you will join me on this journey!